LPsychoart therapy is an original therapeutic approach developed by Zirignon Grobli, an Ivorian psychoanalyst, philosopher and artist born in 1939 in Gagnoa, Ivory Coast. This discipline, which merges psychoanalysis and art therapy, presents itself as an innovative response to the limits of classical analytical therapy. Through it, Grobli proposes a method for exploring the unconscious through artistic creation, thus offering a way to free impulses and regain oneself.
Origins and Context
Zirignon Grobli, with a philosophical background, first worked as a psychotherapist at the Child Guidance Center in Abidjan from 1978 to 1995 before continuing his research in private. Influenced by his personal experience and his name – “Zirignon,” which means “support of the spirits” in the Bhété language – he felt invested with a mission: that of serving as a go-between the world of ancestors and contemporary society. This spiritual dimension, anchored in his culture, deeply permeates his work.
Faced with the inadequacies of traditional psychoanalysis, which is often limited to the verbal domain, Grobli sought to go further by integrating artistic expression as an essential complement. He says he proposed the concept of art therapy at a conference in Dakar in 1998, before developing it into a more accomplished approach that he later called "psychart-therapy." This term, a contraction of "psychoanalysis" (abbreviated to "psycha") and "art therapy," reflects his ambition to marry these two disciplines.
The Foundations of Psychoart-Therapy
Psychoart therapy is based on the idea that the unconscious is not structured solely through verbal language, but that it can also be expressed through preverbal or non-verbal forms accessible through art. Grobli describes it as a "technique for reconquering one's body", infiltrated by impulses or "persecutory spirits" that a patient refuses to externalize through action. The goal is to channel these destructive forces by projecting them onto an artistic medium, such as a canvas or a sculpture.
The process takes place in three main phases:
Projection of impulses: The patient, guided by a therapist, moves his impulses (often described as "sadistic-anal" by Grobli) onto a support, creating a chaotic "magma" that reflects his inner tumult. This stage symbolizes a first exteriorization of anxiety.
Symbolic combat: With the help of the therapist, the patient engages in a fight against this chaos by transforming the support through gestures such as scratching, rubbing or tearing. This confrontation aims to symbolically “kill the beast” within, bringing a feeling of victory and appeasement.
Creative reconstruction: In a final phase, the patient reinterprets the traces left on the support to discover "schemes" or embryonic forms carrying meaning. This stage, close to a mystical quest, allows a reappropriation of one's deep essence.
A Response to Violence
For Grobli, psychoart therapy is not limited to an individual approach: it is also an antidote to societal violence. By allowing destructive impulses to be sublimated, it offers an alternative to "acting out" and promotes social harmony. He sees it as a potential solution to conflicts, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire and around the world, where he perceives a civilizational crisis linked to the forgetting of ancestral values.
His patients, some of whom have become his disciples, testify to the benefits of this approach. Grobli has also founded a structure called ARFAT with former patients to promote psychoart therapy. He has also produced about twenty books and videos to document and disseminate his vision.
Artist or Therapist?
Although recognized as a talented painter – he notably received the SIBA Prize from the Grand Palais in 1977 and the Prix de la Recherche aux Grapholies in 1993 – Grobli rejects the label of artist in the classical sense. For him, art is not an end in itself, but a tool at the service of the unconscious. His works, often produced using systematic scraping techniques, embody this approach: they are the reflection of his own inner struggle and an invitation to explore the preverbal.
A Legacy
In short, Zirignon Grobli's psychoart-therapy is much more than a therapeutic method: it is a philosophy of life, a bridge between tradition and modernity, and a bold attempt to reconcile man with his unconscious and his roots. It invites everyone to seize art as a tool of transformation, capable of healing inner wounds and, perhaps, those of the world.
